Component re-design cuts costs

A customer in the UK food processing industry has achieved more than 40 per cent cost savings thanks to a re-design of a key component. Our engineering team demonstrated how friction welding could join two dissimilar metals, stainless steel and carbon steel, with only the expensive corrosion-resistant stainless steel used on the vessel's interior. "The customer was unaware that such a simple change in process could not only deliver such a significant cost saving, but also the time taken for each weld was greatly improved with virtually zero pre-weld preparation required," explained Colin Nicholls, EMEA Sales Manager. As a result of the component re-design, the customer is now considering investing in a friction welding machine which is predicted to pay for itself within two years.